Hal Wilson of Cambridge Wine Merchants has had an 'awesome' and 'dynamic' 2015. He has embraced the popularity of spirits, which has helped boost his offering to over 900 SKUs. The two biggest challenges in 2016 Wilson's thinks will be to keep wine 'sexy' and combating supermarket discounting.

Jo Wehring of Wines of South Africa looks back at a successful Cape Wine in 2015, but sees Majestic as the retailer to watch heading into 2016. She is looking foward to a new tasting in 2016 that will be hosted by WOSA called Intrepid South Africa in the autumn next year- so watch this space.

David Cox, the chief executive of The Benevolent, the drinks charity in the UK, is proud that in 2015 the charity was able to assist 570 beneficiaries. For the trade, he saw 2015 as a challenging year where businesses need to work harder than ever to protect margins. In 2016 he most looking forward to continuing to grow the number of companies that are engaged with charity.

In the first of our annual reviews of the year, we asked Julia Trustram Eve, the marketing director for English Wine Producers, what were some highlights of 2015 and what she thinks lies ahead for the industry. For Trustman Eve, 2015 was a busy year where English wines became increasingly more mainstream. Looking ahead she see the Budget as one of the industries biggest challenges in 2016, but a lot of opportunity as well with the International Cool Climate Symposium being hosted in the UK.

The Scottish Whisky Association has reiterated its opposition to minimum-unit pricing (MUP) in Scotland, prior to a ruling on the subject from the Court of Justice of the European Union, which is due on December 23.